Growing up, the catch phrase du jur was “Carpe Diem.” Fortunately, it has kind of fallen out of vogue, but for those who are not familiar with the Latin phrase, it is often translated to “seize the day.” The line is taken from the Roman poet Horace’s work “Odes” which date to 23 BC. Being of generation X, the phrase was often time thrown out as a means of seeking the pleasures of the day because you do not know what tomorrow will bring. A sort of summation of “Eat, Drink and be merry for tommorow we die” kind of thought process. At some later point, we can have discussion on whether this is just an excuse to explore hedonism or a call to make the most of each day. I think for my generation, it became a calling phrase because of its use in the movie “Dead Poets Society” in which the English teacher John Keating uses the phrase to call his students to be extraordinary.

But the fact is that ever generation has to come to grip with its mortality. More recently, the sentiment of “Carpe Diem” was brought back into a generations collective mind, but in the form of YOLO, or “You only Live Once.” While not as classic as “Carpe Diem” the sentiment is still the same, that being that life is fleeting and we should make the most of each day.

The Bible has much to say on the topic. The shortness of life is found many places in the Psalms, For example, Psalm 39:4

[4] “O LORD, make me know my end
and what is the measure of my days;
let me know how fleeting I am! (ESV)

The preacher in Ecclesiastes 3:1 says that there is a time for everything, including life and death.

[1] For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: (ESV)

Or Job in Job 14:1–2 laments about life and that life is fleeting and painful.

[1] “Man who is born of a woman
is few of days and full of trouble.
[2] He comes out like a flower and withers;
he flees like a shadow and continues not. (ESV)

There are many other places that we could go to in the Bible to see this. Life is short and for many hard. Now before going too far into this, I will say that it is seldom ever super healthy to dwell on our mortality. This can lead to hopelessness and futility. Especially outside of Christ. This is what the world does. Neither of which is good. But then it is seldom ever healthy to not understand the brevity of our lives. Mainly because you live your life diluted to the reality that no one is guaranteed a tomorrow.

I was recently with a gathering of men and young men (teens) and we were talking about how the young men always waited to the last minute to do anything. The assumption being that young people live in the moment. It was remarked that this was not just the young who do this, but all people of all ages. Those of us who are older did it and still do it too. We live our lives as if there will always be a tomorrow. But as we see in God’s word, that is not the case. Look at Psalm 90:9–12

[9] For all our days pass away under your wrath;
we bring our years to an end like a sigh.
[10] The years of our life are seventy,
or even by reason of strength eighty;
yet their span is but toil and trouble;
they are soon gone, and we fly away.
[11] Who considers the power of your anger,
and your wrath according to the fear of you?
[12] So teach us to number our days
that we may get a heart of wisdom. (ESV)

Or as James says in James 4:13–16:

[13] Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”—[14] yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. [15] Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” [16] As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. (ESV)

The reality is that we only get each stage of life once. We are babies only once. We are children only once. We are young only once. We are middle aged only once. If God is willing, we are old only once. In fact you can say that we only get this day once. There will never be another day like this one or a day when we are like we are today. It will be here today and gone tomorrow.

Again this is not to lament the shortness of life or to give permission to do whatever we want because we we are going to die. That is fatalism and not Biblical. As the people of God we are to realize that life is short, but in that life we need to make the most of it not for ourselves, but for Christ and kingdom work. We need to focus on the important things, not the pleasures of this world (which there is a time and place for) but an understanding that we are here for a purpose and that is for Christ and his glory and his gospel and his kingdom.

The other thing to remember is that while we do get each day only once, in Christ who is alive, who was raised from the dead, that we have an eternal hope. A hope that is more than just the here and now and the sufferings and tribulations of this world. But we do not get this promise in our current sinful self. Our sin before a holy and righteous God must be address, which Christ did for us on the cross. Those who are in Christ must be born again, they must be a new creation. Not a creation that we can make ourselves into, by works of our hands, but one created by the hand of God through the Holy Spirit, which is done through Christ and Christ alone.

Christ himself speaks on this in John 3:1–8

[3] Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” [4] Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” [5] Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.” (ESV)

The world tells us that today is all there is and there is nothing beyond that. But this is not true. God has promised that there is more than this world and its woes. That for those who are in Christ, have placed their trust in him as their Lord and Savior and repented of their sins, that they too can gain eternal life. A life without end. A life that is only found in Christ. So seize the day, be extraordinary, but be mindful that each day is a gift of God to each one of us and that we are to use our time and talents for him and his glory until he calls us home.